The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1887-11-09
K FOUNTAINS.
THE PERSIAN RIVAL OF PENNSYl-
vANlA'S PETROLEUM FIELDS.

A Great Town Built Upon tho Spot Here
tofore Held Sacred by the Fire wor-
Shipping Ghcbres-TwcIve Thousand
Square Miles of Oil Region.
The great town of Ba!iu has now n
coast line of about six miles, sweeping
around II well protected harbor crowded
with shipping-ships Of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks to store the oil that
pours from a hundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
deemed sacred by the Ghebres of Persia,
who recognize in the flame of the native
nnphtha n sacred fire symbol. Here for at
least 2 1000 years the sacred earth fed flame
has burned increasingly, and the temple
of Surukhani has been n center OF rever-
ent pilgrimage. This native naphtha flows
from the soil in so pure n form as to burn
without notification, and is, indeed, SO III
flammable that the naphtha gas occas-
ionally ignites spontaneously and plays
in pale flames above assures in the rock.
On stormy nights these flames have been
seen to blaze up with an awful spirit
light, which, to the eyes of the Ghebres,
invested the spot with special sanctity-a
sanctity intensified by the fact that here,
according to Arabian chroniclers, q great
volcanic mountain was in full action till
800 years ago.. Since then the thermal
forces nave expended their energies on
spouting oil and Herewith saturating the
desert plain {. the Aspheros peninsula;
and truly q more repulsive site for a great
city could not well be found.
1t is q plain about fifteen miles In width
and projecting thirty miles into the Cas-
plan from the point where the Caucasus
terminates on its shores. The whole sur
face Of the ground is black with waste
petroleum, which in cold weather hardens
to the consistency Of asphalt, whereas be-
meath the blazing midsummer sun the
foot sinks in 10 the depth of two or three
inches. Every breath of wind raises
binding clouds Of black, bituminous dust,
formed by the coarse black naphtha with
which the streets are periodically ''wa-
tered" true water being too precious to
be thus wasted. This dust, combined
with the dense smoke poured from the
chimneys of somewhere about 300 refln=
ing factories, docs nothing to improve the
atmosphere. And here, day and night,
the oil fountains pour forth their hideous
black streams. They yield an average Of
from 20 to 80 per cent. of pure oil, and
from 20 to 30 per cent. of refuse, which
makes excellent fuel for the great fleets
of oil steamers and locomotives. The
supply may well be deemed ~inexhaustible,
inasmuch as $4,000 square miles in this
region are found to be oleiferous, and Of
this vast surface only six miles have as
yet been developed. The oil bearing
stratum extends beneath the Caspian,
where it crops up in Tehelikan, a true isle
of oil. Here the oil literally streams into
the sea from hills and cliffs, which may be
said to be formed of ozokcrite--in other
words, Of crude parafinc. On the eastern
shore Of the Caspian it reappears at various
points, as, for instance, at the Nett OF
Naphtha hill, where the deposits are Of
flcially valued at e35, 600, 900.
THE II GIANTS SPORT.
Now, the fire giant who tends the great
laboratory beneath the Caspian seems tt
emulate the example of his brethren in
New Zealand and Tonga. Hitherto he has
been satisfied with such sport as turning
on such an oil stream as that which grshed
forth three years ago from one of the
Baku springs, spOuting with such force Us
to break to pieces o three inch cast iron
pipe which had been fastened over the
well in order to divert the flow to a diff.
ferent direction. A neighboring oil spring
on being tapped, threw up q column o.
petroleum to twice the height Of TIT
Great Geyscr in Iceland, forming u hug
black fountain 200 feet in height-a foun
tain, however, attributed solely to the re
moval Of the pressure on the confined gas
as there is no p%erceptible heat in these
geysers. 1t was visible for many mile:
around, and ON the first day it poured
forth about 10000 barrels, and, witt
gradually diminishing volume, continued
to Play for five months, when it final,
subsidized, leaving It's unfortunate owner
IAN Arincnit.tl company we'll nigh ruinet
by the claims brought against it by neigh
bors whose lands were destroyed by the
oil food.
On the night of the 18th of January
the inhabitants of Baku were awakened
by a violent shock, which caused all the
windows to rattle, il suddenly the dark
ness Of the night was illuminated by ar
intense Light, as though the city wert
afinme. 1t proved, however, to be thu
reflection Oh the heavens of a great fire
at q distance; but no one dreamt that its
locality lay within the earth. Nor was
this realized till the following night, when
the same awful glare became visible; and
shortly before midnight a terrible explo-
sion was heard, followed by a vast column
of flame, apparently $50 feet in height,
which shot up from the summit Of Lok
Batan, close to the Ponta railway station.
1t was a calm night, with scarcely Q
breath Of wind, SO the flames continued
to ascend quite vertically, carrying large
masses Of dark matter, which fell back
into the crater. Considerable heat wa
felt at the distance of fully n mile, and
tho whole country was lighted by a glare
brighter than that of the sun at monday
This lasted for about thirty hours, but
not continuously, the column occasionally
%subsiding. The volume of liquid mud
elected in this period overspread a tract
of about a square mile to q depth varying
from seven to fourteen feet.-New York
Star.